Where do we go for good Portuguese food in Macau? Apart from usual suspects everyone mentions and news media repeatedly talks about – À Petisqueira, Fernando’s, O Santos, Antonio’s, but Espaco Lisboa hardly gets any attention, but the food is great! Fado, A Petisqueira and this restaurant is where I’d go and recommend going for Portuguese food. The best thing is that it’s just round the corner from Lord Stow’s first bakery, so you can pop over after your lunch/dinner and show your friends visiting Macau a bit of Coloane.
I’ve tried the signature ‘typical’ dishes like the bread stew, steak topped with eggs sunny side up and the duck rice which my Portuguese friend raves about. I’m still threading the fine line of what is a Portuguese and Macanese restaurants because you’ll realise that many restaurant menus tend to have either dishes creeping into their menu despite calling themselves singularly Portuguese or Macanese. One such restaurant is Dragon Restaurant which calls itself a Portuguese restaurant and does amazing duck rice, but it’s also got stuffed crabs on the menu – a very typical Macanese appetiser, and a super delicious one at that.
Back to Espaco Lisboa, if you’re keen to try the typical Portuguese dishes, have the bread stew along with the duck rice. Our favourites are always the white wine clams, garlic prawns, a simple salad – which is always tomatoes, onions, black olives and lettuce dressed in olive oil and a seafood rice.
The croquettes are very strong flavoured with a tangy meaty after taste which was odd, and the bacalhau was like where it’s served everywhere – I haven’t heard an outstanding verdict on where to find the best bacalhau in Macau. We ordered some BBQ ribs which were perfectly grilled and served with a side of fries.
A terrace upstairs to dine on and al fresco in the summer months
This is definitely a recommended spot to take out of towners, our bill for 2 persons came up to about 500+MOP including sparkling water and a bottle of not so exciting red. Their wine list is limited and just Portuguese wines, which the husband didn’t find anything he fancied.
8Rua das Gaivotas, Macau
Tel:+853 2888 2226
